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One more power project faces closure
PSEB to lose 10 lakh units daily
Patiala, January 21
The Anandpur Sahib hydel project of the PSEB which generates 10 lakh units daily, likely to close in a week or so. The PSEB is unable to get extra power. Despite an arrangement for the supply of power from 10 pm last night to 6 am today from Gujarat, it could get only two hours of power from the state.

Editorial: Powerless in Punjab

SAD for CBI probe against Rana Sodhi
Amarpal named candidate for Ajnala 
Ludhiana, January 21
The Political Affairs Committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal has demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged bribe scandal involving Rana Gurmit Sodhi, besides his removal as Chief Parliamentary Secretary with immediate effect. It was also decided that a deputation of MPs led by former Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa will meet the President and the PM and appraise them about the case soon.

Allowances of Ranjit dam employees restored
Pathankot January 21
The government has decided to restore the withdrawn allowances of about 13,000 employees of the Ranjit Sagar Dam till further orders. The decision to this affect was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Principal Secretary, Finance and Irrigation Mr K.R. Lakhanpal.

Finance Dept’s threat to public sector banks
Gurdaspur, January 21
The Finance Department has threatened to withdraw the work of disbursements of pension from the public sector banks in Punjab.

French Sikhs await intervention on turban issue
Patiala, January 21
Sikhs of France are still waiting for the Indian government to intervene effectively so that their children can attend schools with their turbans. At present three children have been expelled from a school in Bobigny while two others have been denied entry into a school at Villepinte.

District officers can approve small colonies
Mohali, January 21
The Punjab government today authorised district-level officers of the Country and Town Planning Department to grant approval for setting up small colonies. Earlier, these powers were vested with the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).

Policy shift hits entrepreneur
Chandigarh, January 21
Fortunes alter with change in government policies. For Delhi resident Sneh Lata and so many others, the business of manufacturing sprinkler systems was lucrative in Punjab until a few years ago. The reason was not hard to see. Power connections to tubewells were being released to agriculturists — opting for the systems — on priority basis. No wonder, Ms Lata and other entrepreneurs started producing sprinklers. But then the government scrapped the scheme, along with manufacturers dreams’.

Punjab spikes cases of SPOs’ enlistment
Chandigarh, January 21
The Punjab Police has spiked all pending cases in which approval could not be granted for enlistment of special police officers (SPOs) as constables due to the ban on recruitment. The process for enlisting them was initiated during the tenure of Punjab’s former Director-General of Police M.S. Bhullar. The development is significant as approximately 600 SPOs would be affected by the move.

COMMUNITY

CM’s assurance to Andaman Punjabis
Chandigarh, January 21
Assuring adequate financial and other help to Punjabi settlers in Andaman and Nicobar, the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, made clear to them today that the state did not have enough land to rehabilitate them in Punjab.

SGPC team fails to reach Campbell
Amritsar, January 21
A three-member SGPC team, comprising Mr Rajinder Singh Mehta , Mr Jaswinder Singh Advocate, both members and Mr Roop Singh, Assistant Secretary, could not reach Campbell Island — the site, where Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus had suffered a colossal loss during tsunami — due to snapping of all communication links .

Govt depts owe over Rs 70 lakh to MC
Sangrur, January 21
Even after about three years of Amarinder Government’s regime in Punjab, non-payment of house tax to the tune of lakhs of rupees to the local Municipal Council by several government departments for the past many years has exposed the financial health of the state.

Strict steps to check edible oils’ adulteration
Chandigarh, January 21
Reverting back to the era of licence “raj”, the Punjab Government on Wednesday enforced the various provisions of the Edible Oil Packaging Regulations, 1998, making the registration mandatory of those engaged in the packaging, sale and manufacturing of edible oils.

Harried sarpanches refuse to run water works
Abohar, January 21
Some sarpanches have expressed their inability to run the rural water works in their respective villages. This comes as a shock to the state government, which had resolved to hand over some important departments to the village panchayats.

PWD seeks 20 cr for repair of roads
Hoshiarpur, January 21
The Public Works Department has demanded Rs 20 crore from the Punjab Government for immediate patch work on almost all the state highways for smooth running of vehicular traffic. This was disclosed by Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, PWD Minister, while talking to media persons at the Canal Rest House here on Wednesday.

Empowering physically challenged
Five get tricycles with phone facility
Patiala, January 21
Twenty-two-year old Jai Kishan Rai found it difficult to get work till now. Unable to walk, he usually had to make do by filling in when a proprietor of a ‘paan’ and cigarette kiosk wanted to take some time off. Now he hopes to do business near his old kiosk near the Tagore cinema in Model Town as the proud owner of a tricycle, with telephone facility.

Muslims ‘will be given due honour’
Bathinda, January 21
Mr Manpreet Singh Badal, MLA, Gidderbaha and in charge, media wing of the SAD (Badal), today said that whenever his party came to power in Punjab, it would given due honour and recognition to the members of the Muslim community.

Grewal’s body brought to Chandigarh
Chandigarh, January 21
The body of former Cabinet Secretary S.S. Grewal, who died in New York on January 16, was brought here today. According to family sources, the cremation of Mr Grewal will take place on Sunday. Funeral procession will leave from House No 59, Sector 2, at 11 am for the Sector 25 crematorium.

Rice mill owners' property sealed
Moga, January 21
The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Moga branch, today took over the possession of residential and factory premises of M/s Jai Jwala Food Exports Pvt Ltd, owing to non-payment of bank's dues amounting to Rs 76 lakh.

Drive against bill defaulters launched
Patiala, January 21
The Patiala Municipal Corporation today started a drive against water and sewerage bill defaulters and held checks in the inner city which resulted in recovery of Rs 40,000 in dues.

ADMINISTRATION

DC orders probe into land sale
Kharar, January 21
Shamlat land of Badali village, worth crores of rupees, is allegedly being sold by influential persons at a throwaway price. A complaint in this regard was made to the Ropar Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Seema Jain, by a member of the village block samiti.

CRIME

Anti-narcotics drive in top gear, 24 kg opium seized
Muktsar, January 21
The campaign launched by the district police to make the region drug free paid rich dividends today when its two teams managed to seize huge quantity of inorganic intoxicants in Malout town of this district.

Sacked commando nabbed
Batala, January 21
Harvinder Pal Singh, alias Happy, son of Mr Raghuwinder Singh, a resident of Hathi Gate, Batala, has been arrested by the Civil Lines police on the charge of providing vital secret information to Pakistan.

Two PSEB employees held for graft
Moga, January 21
The Vigilance Bureau today caught a Junior Engineer and an Assistant Lineman of the Punjab State Electricity Board red-handed while accepting bribe at Kot Ise Khan, near here.

Two crushed to death
Jalandhar, January 21
Two persons were crushed to death when the cycle and scooter they were riding were hit by a truck at Raiwali village on the Jalandhar-Pathankot road, near here, late last night.

Man’s body found
Kharar, January 21
A body was found from near Desumajra village by the police last night. The police believes that the middle-aged Sikh person must have been hit by a speeding vehicle last night as his head was crushed.

EDUCATION

Need to study immigrant literature stressed
Amritsar, January 21 The scholars participating in the concluding day of the two-day international seminar on ‘20th Century Immigration and Immigrant Literature’ here today were of the unanimous view that the Indians, especially the Punjabis, living in various parts of the world had influenced life in India.

Punjabi varsity seeks patent on biosensor
Patiala, January 21
Punjabi University has applied for a patent on an invention relating to the development of a rapid and disposable microbial biosensor for detecting copper ions in industrial effluents. The application has been accepted.

Students of engineering college go on strike
Ropar, January 21
The first year students of Bhaddal Engineering College today went on strike in protest against the beating up of a first-year student allegedly by three teachers. They were demanding apology from the teachers in front of all students for their act.

BUSINESS

Cable operators to boycott 40 TV channels
Jalandhar, January 21
Accusing three pay channel companies of enhancing cable charges in violation of the TRAI order, cable operators of Jalandhar city have decided to observe a 24-hour boycott of about 40 TV channels belonging to three pay-channel companies.